ABB is buying Power-One for $6.35 a share in cash. The deal is expected to close in the second half of the year.

The $1.028 billion price tag is not quite 3.9-times enterprise value and is only roughly 17-times trailing free cash flow. It's not even 8-times EBITDA.

It's a good fit for ABB, which I knew was getting into and expanding in the inverter space. And the other business line fits them, too. But it's a bad outcome for Power-One shareholders, especially with shares of the stock as high as $6.50 just a few months ago and topping $9 in mid 2011.

The MUE port will eke out a small profit. Average cost basis is $6.19 per share and the selling price is $6.35, so I make $0.16 in gains.

Of course, I had much higher hopes for this company and its stock, but it's not to be.

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